Thursday, June 1, 2017

Welcome to Our New Georgia Home

After giving a tour of all of our bedrooms, I am finally going to complete the main tour of our new home. While we do have some long term plans for this home, we are pretty content with the way it is for now. We do think this is the closest we have ever come to living in a house that is both of our styles. We like the traditional brick ranch style with plenty of room on the inside without feeling like there is lots of wasted space. I think we both like not having stairs as well. So far, it seems to be a well built custom home in a neighborhood of other custom homes. It was built prior to large development builders moving in and putting up lots of homes quickly and cheaply; however, it is on the newer side of most of the houses in our part of the community. Our street and cul de sac were the last phase of homes to be built in the early 2000s. The community and builders also didn't cut down all of the trees to build houses so it feels like the houses have been here a lot longer because of all the mature trees and vegetation. Our yard actually feels a little like we live in the woods, and Eddie particularly loves that. The yard does still need some maintenance as some trees have fallen over the years leaving stumps that need to be ground up. Last year's big hurricane actually did a lot of damage to this area although they don't actually get a ton of the big hurricanes because the Georgia coastline doesn't stick out as far into the ocean as farther north in North Carolina. We are enjoying the neighborhood amenities, including a nice pool, and look forward to participating in many neighborhood events in the future. We also like that our new church is just down the road. We actually aren't in the city limits so I was surprised to learn that we are on a septic system. Although I grew up on a septic system and never had any problems, I still feel a little nervous about that. I guess I have just heard too many "horror" stories of septic tank disasters. Haha! I am enjoying the lower water and sewage bills though. We do still get county water here so I am thankful for that. We chose this area because it definitely had the best rated schools in the entire southeast Georgia area. I am not sure what is up with the rest of the schools here, but we have been happy with ours so far. I think what Eddie and I are the most disappointed with is that the town seems to have chosen poorly in the types of establishments to let in and keep out of the town so we are left with very few "good" options for shopping and dining. The drive to Savannah isn't usually an easy one because they are still working on a long project to get a better highway through the low lying marshlands between us and Savannah. We prefer to drive up 95 to the Pooler area because that area has made better decisions about growth and development and has a nice shopping and dining area. Right now, the town we live near looks more like a truck stop dive than a nice family friendly town. Ha! There are still a few establishments we are missing (I am thinking of you, Pei Wei), but we are making do. So without further adieu, we hope you enjoy the tour:

The view from the street is a bit obstructed by some large trees and shrubs closer to the road. The walk up to the house from the driveway shows how shady the yard is most of the time. It is fairly well maintained but still a bit "wild" in spots. I just like the look of a traditional brick house.

I do still dream of a large front porch with rocking chairs for sitting and enjoying the view. Unfortunately, I doubt I would use it much here these days. Maybe when I am old and watching my grandchildren play.

This little corner next to the porch could possibly be converted into a little patio area some day.

I planted some new flowers in my pots, but we actually got a late frost in March after weeks of gorgeous weather in February so some of my new flowers didn't fair well.

The front door. Eventually, I would love to paint the door a lighter color and update the outdated brass hardware.

Alas, welcome into our home!Living Room

I did get a new front door rug that was on sale at Lowe's, but I think I could get a much larger one for this space. It isn't a separate foyer from the living room, but it is a large enough space to feel like a defined space.

Front door entry is open to the main living area and the formal dining room.

I do love that the main areas of the house have beautiful hardwood floors that look brand new. They have a very shiny finish to them, and I think they look great with the large handwoven Turkish rug my parents brought back from their stay in Turkey. I have been happy to see people starting to bring back this style of rug, and I have always loved this one. I am looking for a decent priced large farmhouse style wall clock to hang on this wall.

I hung all of our family portraits in here because they are each special. They are the portraits we had made when each of our babies joined our family. I am thinking about silver leafing Evan's black frame to match the others.

There is a two sided fireplace that connects this room to the sunroom behind it. It is kind of plain, but I could see it being lovely with a natural stacked stone facade. For now, I have tried to liven it up with some rustic farmhouse style accessories and my large Greek vase. Up high is the safest place for such pieces right now.

I had to hang my Summer banner.

I created this printable because I liked the simplicity of this little saying and felt it went nicely with a farmhouse style.

I thought our burlap monogram letter went with the farmhouse style as well, but I also love those small black Greek vases that were my mom's. I also have a love for blue glass and added another one that I found in the Target dollar bins recently. I wanted some cotton stems for this one and made a trip to Hobby Lobby to get some. They had some little cotton bunches very cheap so I brought them home and attached them to sticks we found in our yard. I think it works well.

Dining Room

This is a room I dream of redecorating. I want to lighten the walls to a lighter color. Maybe a light blue or gray at the top and white beadboard or board and batten at the bottom for a more farmhouse country style. Then, I still have plans to redo our table with a stained dark wood top and lighter white or gray stained bottoms and chairs with some new upholstery on the cushions. Eventually maybe a new farmhouse inspired light fixture for in here too and a buffet or China cabinet to match that style.

I couldn't find a better spot for our precious portraits. Maybe everyone doesn't decorate with portraits, but these are what make me smile the most.

The other wall is our portraits of our babies with room for baby Grayson's to be added.

I just love them.

Kitchen

The kitchen probably needs the most work cosmetically. It is very plain and builder grade and still has linoleum flooring and cheap countertops. I would love to refinish the cabinets, add some nicer solid surface countertops (probably quartz) and a nice tile backsplash and tile or hardwood flooring. A farmhouse apron sink would be nice too.

We decided to use the space behind the kitchen as an office/playroom area. We just can't live without a playroom right now.

I don't love the white appliances, but they are all fairly new and work well so we are living with them for now.

The laundry room/mud room isn't very big, but it works.

Those always important family rules.

This refrigerator is a little smaller than ours so the boys' sports magnets really fill it up. I don't know what I will do when I have to add Mattox's and Grayson's.

Brody's side.

I decided to get a little table and chairs for this large empty eat in kitchen area. One day, it would be nice to have a large center island here. Cocoa's Room/Sunroom

The other side of the fireplace is in the sunroom which we affectionately call Cocoa's room. At this time, I just cannot handle her shedding all over the house so this works best for her. The boys often join her in her room to play their video games.

The room gets a ton of natural light although the trees do provide a good filter from the direct sun. We also plan to use this space as the home gym when Eddie gets it set back up.

We don't close her in her crate anymore, but she does lay in there sometimes. We have bought dog beds galore, and she tears them to shreds in days. Our old patio chair cushions lasted her the longest so we just let her use them as a bed. She mostly lays on the rug though.

The hard tile floors and simple decor makes it easier to clean this space and keep the dog hair to a minimum.

Cocoa says "Hi!"

Boys' Bathroom and Hallway

This hallway on the other side of the house leads to the boys' bedrooms and their bathroom.

I decorated their bathroom in blue and orange using a shower curtain we had from our first house.

It is a small bathroom but it works for the boys and a spare one for guests. Great-Grandma Mattie painted that picture of her childhood home.

I found some cute dinosaur prints from Hobby Lobby that went perfectly in the boys' bathroom. This bathroom needs a new countertop for the vanity, and I hate the cold hard ceramic tile floors, but it works for now.

Play Room/Office

The home office just consists of an old metal file cabinet we spray painted oil rubbed bronze and a new wooden lateral file cabinet to hold all of our important family documents. It also contains the printer and other household office supplies. I love the wall of art from the kids, and I could hang so much more than that.

The Dr. Seuss prints help define the play room function.

Since this room isn't a large separate space like our old play room, I couldn't use the full play cafe in here, but I utilized the shelf units we had and the front part of the cafe to create a little kitchen space.

Mattox demonstrates how it works.

I plan to go all the way up this wall with the kids' pictures.

I need a new kids' table for in here eventually, but Mattox's ball pit takes up a good amount of space on the floor.

The Backyard

We don't have a fence, but the trees and foliage make the backyard feel very private. We can barely see our neighbors from here. The deck is also in decent shape and has had a new coat of paint/stain.

Just a few steps down to the yard so nothing too scary for kids.

Those french doors lead into the kids' play room space.

The outside of the sunroom area which also has a door which makes it easy for Cocoa to go in and out.

The house from the backyard.

Some bushes could use trimming.

The kids have a decent area to play back here with nice grass although the other side of the yard is heavily wooded.

The grandparents gave all of the kids money for their birthdays so they got this little swingset to use for the time being. We eventually want to build them a bigger, sturdier playset.

There is still plenty of shade to help make the yard more tolerable in the summer heat.
We hope you enjoyed the tour!